This invention relates to balers for forming round bales of agricultural crop material, and more particularly to a bale kicker mechanism for use in combination with a round baler.
A round baler typically includes a bale-forming chamber defined by a series of side-by-side belts. Crop material is supplied to the bale-forming chamber from a pickup mechanism, and the belts function to roll the crop material into a round bale. When the bale has reached a predetermined size within the bale-forming chamber, a tailgate mechanism of the round baler is raised so as to open the bale-forming chamber and to discharge the bale rearwardly of the baler. The tailgate is then closed in preparation for forming a subsequent bale.
In order for the tailgate to properly close, the discharged bale must be located out of the path of movement of the tailgate from its open position to its closed position. In the past, it has been known to clear the path of the tailgate by moving the baler forwardly after discharging the bale from the baler. While this procedure works satisfactorily to clear the path of the tailgate, it is still possible for the bale to move into the path of the tailgate by movement of the bale on the ground if the bale is discharged on a downhill incline.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bale kicker for use with a round baler, which ensures that the bale is moved rearwardly out of the path of the tailgate in order to provide clearance for movement of the tailgate from its open position to its closed position. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a bale locker mechanism which operates without movement of the baler, to eliminate the need to advance the baler to close the tailgate after the bale has been discharged. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a bale kicker mechanism which also acts as a ramp for assisting in movement of the bale onto the ground after the bale is discharged from the bale-forming chamber. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a bale kicker mechanism which incorporates a feature to ensure that the bale has been fully discharged from the baler before the tailgate can be moved to its closed position. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a bale kicker mechanism which is relatively simple in its components and operation, yet which provides highly satisfactory and reliable movement of the bale away from the baler and out of the path of the tailgate. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a bale kicker mechanism which can either be installed during original manufacture or which can be retrofit onto a baler subsequent to manufacture.
In accordance with the present invention, a bale kicker mechanism for use with a round baler includes an inner section movably mounted to the baler for movement between a lowered position and a raised position, and an outer section which is pivotably mounted to an outer end defined by the inner section. The outer bale kicker section defines an outer end member, and a stop arrangement is interposed between the inner end of the outer bale kicker section and the outer end of the inner bale kicker section. Movement of the inner bale kicker section from its raised position to its lowered position causes the outer end member of the outer bale kicker section to contact the ground, and the inner and outer bale kicker sections are placed in an obtuse angular relationship relative to each other. The inner bale kicker section slopes downwardly and rearwardly from the bale-forming chamber at a relatively sharp angle, to facilitate discharge of the bale from the bale-forming chamber. The outer bale kicker section is oriented at a lesser angle to act as a ramp for transitioning movement of the bale from the inner bale kicker section onto the ground.
The stop arrangement functions to fix the angular position of the outer bale kicker section relative to the inner bale kicker section during movement of the inner bale kicker section from its lowered position toward its raised position. Movement of the inner section of the kicker functions to initially lift the forward end of the outer kicker section upwardly, to increase the angle of incline of the outer bale kicker section. Continued movement of the inner bale kicker section toward its raised position causes the outer end member of the outer bale kicker section to lift upwardly above the ground, to move the bale off the outer bale kicker section and to engage the end member of the outer bale kicker section with the surface of the bale. The bale kicker thus functions to provide a predetermined minimum amount of space rearwardly of the baler, to enable the tailgate to be moved from its open position to its closed position.
The inner bale kicker section is preferably movable between its raised and lowered positions by operation of an extendible and retractable mechanism, such as a hydraulic cylinder assembly. The tailgate is also preferably moved between its open and closed positions by one or more hydraulic tailgate cylinder assemblies. A bale exit sensor is provided for ensuring that the bale is fully discharged from the bale-forming chamber before the tailgate can be moved from its open position to its closed position. The bale exit sensor may be in the form of an actuator which functions to actuate a valve interconnected in a hydraulic circuit with the tailgate hydraulic cylinder assemblies. The actuator selectively actuates the valve so as to provide operation of the hydraulic circuit to close the tailgate when the bale has been fully discharged from the bale-forming chamber. If the actuator does not engage the valve, which occurs when the presence of a bale is detected, operation of the hydraulic circuit is prevented and the tailgate cannot be moved to its closed position until the bale is cleared from the bale-forming chamber.
The invention further contemplates a round baler incorporating a bale kicker mechanism as well as a method of operating a round baler, substantially in accordance with the foregoing summary.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.